DE2743562A1 - CONNECTING DEVICE FOR FIBER LIGHT GUIDE - Google Patents

Description

Int.Az .: Case 1153 - September 23, 1977

Hewlett-Packard Company '·> 7 Λ '} S R

CONNECTING DEVICE FOR FIBER LIGHT GUIDE

With the coupling of two fiber optic ends, the less is possible Light output is lost, the closer the two ends of the light guide brought together and in their common central axis can be aligned. During assembly with the ferrule, the cut end is a light guide initially flush with the end face of the ferrule. If then the rear part of the holding sleeve of the ferrule on the envelope of the fiber optic cable is squeezed, this can step back the cut end of the light guide against the surface of the ferrule. Towards this end, however, it should Rest at the end of a second light guide, which is located in a second ferrule. In an older arrangement (P 27 26 913.2) there is a risk that the cut end of the light guide will withdraw from the surface of the clamp. This creates a gap between the cut ends of the light guides to be coupled during attachment the outer sheath of the fiber optic cable at the end the ferrule sleeve.

In addition, the cost of the slotted and externally threaded sleeve according to the older proposal, in which introduced the connecting ends of the two light guides to be connected are very high, since complex tools to maintain the tight tolerance of the inner diameter are needed. Typically the tolerances were of the inside diameter of the one provided with the external thread The sleeve and the ferrules are insufficient for the erecter shark direction of concentricity between the light guides-Zum Improving alignment tolerance and maintaining it of production cost, the sleeve was slotted to make it as

80981 B / 06 16

Hewlett-Packard Company
Int.Az .: Case 1153

-A-

Let the spring act and compensate for the space between its inner diameter and the outer diameter of the ferrule. However, the size of the pen was at this embodiment developed force predictably. To the To improve the predictability of the light guide alignment, a double leaf spring has been incorporated into the sleeve, as also described in the above patent application. While this was an improvement, it increased the cost.

The invention characterized in claim 1 is based on the object of creating a connecting device for glass fiber light guides which at low manufacturing costs a safe and low-loss coupling of two light guides is guaranteed.

According to the invention, slots and leaf springs are avoided, in favor of a sleeve with an external thread and a uniform internal diameter, into which an intermediate sleeve is slidingly fitted made of injected, resilient material with a D-shaped inner cross-section is inserted. The inner cross-section of the intermediate sleeve acts as a spring on the outer diameter of the connecting clamps.

The invention is explained below using an exemplary embodiment in conjunction with the associated drawing. In the drawing show:

1 shows a longitudinal section through a fiber optic light guide connector according to the present invention;

2 shows a longitudinal section through two light guides coupled to one another, each of which has a connecting piece are provided according to Fig. 1, wherein a coupling sleeve is used in accordance with the present invention;

3 shows a side and a front view of an intermediate sleeve according to the invention;

809815/0616

Hewlett-Packard Company
Int.Az .: Case 1153

2743S02

Fig. 4A is a perspective view of an inventive Spring sleeve; and

FIG. 4B shows the front view of the spring sleeve according to FIG. 4A in cooperation with an inserted clamp arrangement according to FIG. 1.

The present invention is based on the embodiment according to the German patent application P 27 26 913.2. The clamp arrangement shown in Fig. 1 contains half-shells 11 and 12 and a sleeve 10. The ferrule is connected to a light guide 5, as in the cited patent application is described. The sleeve 10 corresponds to the sleeve 13 in the patent application mentioned, differentiates however, it differs from this in that a section 17 with an external thread extends behind the half-shells held in place. The sleeve 13 having a threaded internal cross-sectional section for coupling to the threaded section of the sleeve 10 also has an externally threaded portion which corresponds to the externally threaded portion 44 of the Ferrule 40 corresponds in the above patent application. The externally threaded section can be the inner surface of a cable jacket 22 engage over strands 24 when the sleeve 20 is installed and crimped in place is.

The above-described arrangement of a sleeve 10 with a sleeve 13 ensures that the cut end of the light guide 5 can be adjusted so that it is exactly aligned with the end face 17 of the ferrule assembly during or after the sleeve 20 is crimped onto the outer jacket of the light guide cable . The immutability of the final setting is ensured by using intermediate fitting threads on the outer cross-section of the sleeve 10 and the inner cross-section of the sleeve 13.

In Fig. 2 it is shown how two connectors in The configuration shown in FIG. 1 by means of a sleeve 16

80981 5/0616

Hewlett-Packard Company

Int.Az .: Case 1153 - 6 -

and union nuts 15 are coupled to one another. The sleeve 16 corresponds to the sleeve 71 in the above-mentioned patent application; however, it has no slots or fingers 81. The sleeve 16 simply contains a cylindrical sleeve with external threads corresponding to the threads of the union nuts 15 and a uniform smooth internal cross-section.

The. Arrangement according to FIG. 2 includes a sleeve 30, the shape of which is shown in FIG. The sleeve 30 is injection-molded from a plastic material or from another flexible material resilient and malleable material, e.g. Delrin, and has a uniform outer diameter. The internal cross-section of the However, sleeve 30 is D-shaped. It includes a flat surface 33. The sleeve 30 ensures repeated fixed axial alignment of the light guides contained in the connectors of the configuration of FIG. Of the D-shaped inner cross-section of the sleeve 30 has the effect that each of the inserted ferrules is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis a vertical force is exerted.

The spring sleeve 40 shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B has a different shape than the sleeve 30. The spring sleeve 40 is made of made of a flexible, resilient and malleable material e.g. spring steel, beryllium copper or similar. She educates essentially a three-quarter cylinder with walls of 0.0025mm thickness. Part of the wall of the cylinder is removed and another part is all along its length flattened. The spring sleeve 40 also ensures a repeatable, fixed axial alignment of the light guides contained in the connecting pieces according to FIG. 1, and although in the same way as the sleeve 30, but with a longer useful life.

809815/0616

Claims (6)

Int. Ref .: Case 1153 September 23, 1977 Hewlett-Packard Company PATENT CLAIMS 2 7 Λ 3 b 6 / l ^ device for connecting two fiber optic ends, whereby the light guides each have a single sheathed light guide cable form, gekennzei c .h net by a ferrule (10, 11, 12) to hold the actual light guide (5) and, if necessary, its inner casing, a sleeve (13) to hold the casing in place, and a union nut with internal thread, the clamp being a holding sleeve (10) with external thread and an adjusting sleeve with internal thread and two half-shells (11, 12), and by means of the adjusting sleeve, the end of the light guide is flush with the The end face of the clamp can be adjusted after clamping the cover is. 2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the external thread section (17) the holding sleeve (10) and the internally threaded portion of the Holding sleeve have opposing threads. 3. Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that a sleeve (16) with an external thread and uniform inside diameter for receiving and fastening by means of a union nut of a light guide connector is provided which has an intermediate sleeve (30, 40) made of resilient castable material, which is insertable into the sleeve with an external thread and a repeatable press-proof axial alignment of the light guides (5) ensures. 4. Apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that g e k e η η ζ e i c h η e t that the intermediate sleeve (30) a has uniform outer diameter, which is approximately is equal to the inner diameter of the sleeve (16) with an external thread and has a D-shaped internal cross-section, 809815/0616 2743S62 wherein the outer surface of the intermediate sleeve is a tight fit with the inner surface of the externally threaded sleeve forms. 5. Apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that the D-shaped inner cross section the intermediate sleeve (30) is chosen so that a force perpendicular to each of the inserted clamps (20) whose longitudinal axis is exercised. 6. Apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that the intermediate sleeve (40) has a Forms three quarter cylinders, part of which is the wall is removed and another part is flattened along the entire length, with the outside of the intermediate sleeve with the inside of the sleeve with the external thread forms a tight fit and the inside of the intermediate sleeve a forms a tight fit with the outside of the ferrules. 809815/0616